The Most Unlikely Place
by angelic-bitch
Summary: Bella is Illyssa Cullen's kindergarten teacher. What will happen when father and teacher meet?
1. Illyssa

**Yep i'm starting another twilight fic. This storyline has been in my head for days and I need to get it out. Let me know if you like it!**

**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns everything Twilight.**

Bella ran to her car desperate to find some clean clothes. She normally always brought a spare skirt and top to work in case the clothes she was wearing got dirty somehow. It was not an uncommon occurrence since she worked at a kindergarten. Children are very messy and that morning one of them, Matthew had thrown up all over her skirt. The poor little boy was sent home to rest and recover. As Bella rummaged through the boot of her car she said a silent prayer to the heavens that the little dear would feel better soon and feel little pain.

Bella sighed when all she could find were her ugly gray sweat pants.

"I suppose these will have to do," she muttered to herself, her brow furrowed. Bella hated wearing pants, she had put on quite a bit of weight during her last relationship and had not managed to lose all of it. The guy had been an abusive son of a bitch and she had turned to food for comfort.

Skirts and dresses hid her thighs and stomach more successfully than pants did, so the thought of everyone seeing her in pants made her feel awkward and uncomfortable. However between the choice of smelling like vomit and looking obviously overweight, the professional thing to do was to suck it up and change. _It's not like there is anyone to impress here anyway. All the fathers who come to pick up their children are married._

She hurried to the office that she shared with her workmate and one of her best friend's Angela and got changed. She put her skirt in a plastic bag to take to the dry cleaners on her way home. She hurried out to the playground where Angela was supervising the three year old class they both taught together.

"Thanks for watching them all while I changed Ange," Bella said gratefully as she joined her friend on supervision duty for recess.

"Sure thing hun, you know for some reason you smell a lot better," Angela teased.

"Yeah, I wonder why that is," she rolled her eyes.

"Decided to shower for once?"

"Actually it's my second time this month," Bella played along. Bella and Angela had been working together for 7 years and when you're best friends with someone for a long time, all conversation becomes immature and is often pushed through a 'sarcasm only' funnel.

Bella scanned the playground to see if any of the kids either needed help, were hurt or were not playing with others. She spotted little Illyssa Cullen all on her own near the back swings and she frowned. This was the fourth day in a row that Illyssa was not socialising. She had also wet the bed twice this week during nap time which was unnatural for her since Illyssa was usually one of the kids who had good bladder control. Bella had made a mental note to ask Illyssa's grandmother Esme if anything had changed in Illyssa's life, but she been preoccupied and had missed her at each pick up time this week.

She walked over to Illyssa and smilled.

"Hey little princess, do you want me to push you on the swings?"

Ilyssa's hand was griping one of the side poles of the swing and she was swaying side to side nervously. Her angelic light brown eyes looked up at Bella in panic and Bella realised that she was towering over the little one. She bobbed down and affectionately tucked a stray blonde curl behind Illyssa's ear.

Bella pretended to pout.

"Doesn't princess Lyssa want to play with me today? I feel very sad, I think I need a big cuddle." Bella then proceeded to fake cry noisily and dramatically. "What am I going to do? Lyssa doesn't want to play with me!"

The little girl giggled and then jumped into Bella's arms and Bella lifted her up and spun her around.

"Oh I feel much better now," she smiled, "Lyssa why aren't you playing with Stacey and Taylor? Were they mean to you?"

Lyssa simply shook her head. "Don't want to."

Bella frowned in confusion. Usually Illyssa was such a noisy, social, little one. Before she could ask any more questions Angela called all the kids inside because recess was over.

As the day went on the events surrounding Illyssa became more serious. While the children were painting Illyssa accidently knocked over her paint pallet and it fell to the floor. She looked at Bella in fear and then began crying uncontrollably.

As Bella reached her and bobbed down, Illyssa backed away as if she was scared that her teacher would hurt her in some way.

"Please don't be mad. I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to." And then Bella noticed a little puddle forming on the floor. Illyssa had wet herself out of fear. Bella blinked in shock. What on earth had brought such a reaction on? The poor thing was terrified. Bella exchanged glances with Angela and they went into responsible teacher mode. A silent agreement passed between them where Angela would look after the class and clean up the mess, while Bella would help Illyssa.

"It's ok sweet heart," Bella said gently and smiled. "I'm not angry, I promise. Will you take my hand and we can go get all cleaned up." Bella extended her hand to the terrified child.

Illyssa sobbed. "You're not going to smack me?"

Bella's eyes went wide in shock but she quickly composed herself.

"Of course not princess, actually I was going to tell you how beautiful this picture is that you're painting. I bet Grandma Esme can't wait to see it."

Illyssa took Bella's hand cautiously and Bella slowly guided her out of the classroom and to the room where they kept all the first aid equipment. On the way, in the hallway Bella quickly grabbed Illyssa's bag which would have a spare set of clothes or at least underwear in it. Bella wrapped her arms around the little girl as she sobbed into Bella's shoulder. Bella rubbed her back in circular motions until the sobs subsided.

"Lyssa we have to clean you up a bit and change your clothes ok sweetheart? Then we can get back to painting that very pretty picture."

"Gran-gran Me-me can't see my painting 'cause Tana pick me up."

Bella frowned in confusion.

"Who's Tana?"

"Daddy's girlfriend." Illyssa looked at her shoes.

Illyssa was more comfortable with letting Bella touch her so they managed to clean her up and put a fresh set of clothes on.

"Why isn't Grandma Esme picking you up?"

"Her foot has a boo-boo."

"Oh." Bella was slowly gathering all the information together. Esme had hurt herself and now Dr. Cullen's girlfriend was looking after Illyssa after kinder instead. Bella's back stiffened as she realised the question she had to ask.

"Lyssa, has Tana ever smacked you for being naughty?"

The little girl's eyes grew wide and they filled up with tears but they did not spill. She nodded slowly.

"I spilt juice on the carpet," she whispered shamefully.

Bella felt herself flush red as the anger grew in her. _That bitch! _What kind of person ever raises their hand to a three year old? Or at all?

Bella couldn't concentrate all day. At lunchtime while Angela watched the kids in the playground. Bella checked with the receptionist how long the bitch had been looking after Illyssa for. Her name was Tanya Denali and she had been dropping and picking Illyssa up since Monday. _Well she's not picking her up today_.

Bella called the contact numbers that Dr. Cullen and Esme had left but she could not get through. She left Illyssa's father messages on his voicemail explaining that she needed to talk to him, that she would not allow this Tanya woman to leave with Illyssa and that she was willing to wait as long as he needed until he could pick her up.

When five-o-clock came Bella had hoped that Dr. Cullen would show up to pick up his daughter. He did not. Tanya looked outraged when Bella calmly stated that she would not be allowing Illyssa to go home with her because she needed to talk with Illyssa's father about something serious. Tanya looked her up and down and scoffed.

"Honey, you're really not his type. You wouldn't be the first woman who has tried to use Illyssa to get to him. Besides, I hate to break it to you, but he's taken."

Bella had had to reign her emotions in and remain professional. It took all of her strength not to slap the pathetic excuse for a human being standing in front of her.

"You are mistaken Miss Denali, I would never be interested in a man who prefers to work long hours than to spend time with his beautiful daughter. If you are able to get through to him, I would appreciate it if you would let him know that I will be here with Illyssa waiting for him until he comes.

Tanya rolled her eyes.

"Fine, he gets off at 9 and it takes him at least 15 minutes to get here."

"Then I'll wait until 9.15," Bella said between gritted teeth.

"Whatever, it's not like I want to take care of her anyway." Tanya walked off while Bella clenched and unclenched her right fist. _Stupid Bitch!_

Time went by and Illyssa seemed happy to wait for her Dad no matter how long it took, she was relaxed in Bella's company. They played games together, read stories, ate dinner. Time simply flew and they both enjoyed every minute of it. At one point during story time when Illyssa was sitting in Bella's lap, she affectionately reached back and played with Bella's hair while listening. It seemed like such a natural action and Bella felt herself wishing that she had a daughter of her own.

When Bella heard a car pull up in the parking lot and a car door slam shut she suddenly felt very anxious. It was not every day that a kindergarten teacher spoke to the father of a child about his abusive girlfriend. She suddenly found herself wishing that she had not convinced Angela to keep her date with her boyfriend Ben. _Why didn't I let her stay with me? Because it's a Friday night and she has a boyfriend. You don't._

Edward Cullen opened the classroom door looking furious and when his glaring eyes found hers he spoke in a dangerously low tone.

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

**Edward wants you to review! Do it! Do it! Do it!**


	2. Reactions

**I know it's been ages but I promise my updates will be much quicker. Thank you so much for all your reviews, especially you Amanda413 and Kirsten , I can't believe you reviewed twice, it makes me so happy that you like the way this has started. My next chapters will be longer after this. I hope you all like this chapter!**

Bella unconsciously took a step back noticing how tall and well built he was. She felt a jolt of fear run through her as she realised she would have no chance of defending herself if he were to get violent.

"How dare you keep my daughter here without my consent," Edward growled as he crossed his arms. "Where the hell is she?" he asked, glaring around the room.

"Sh-she's sleeping in the nap room," Bella pointed to a door on her left that was slightly open. Even in her anxious state it didn't go unnoticed how incredibly attractive this man was and she was suddenly very aware of her thighs and that she was wearing her old, ugly sweat pants.

He glared at her and then moved towards the door.

"M-Mr. Cullen, please, I know that this is unusual but please let me explain, I would not have done this if it wasn't for a good reason." Bella's whole body felt alert she prayed that he would take what she was about to tell him in the best way possible and not shoot the messenger.

Edward stopped and stared hard into Bella's eyes for a long moment and then he sighed.

"What is it?" he asked in a less aggressive tone. "Tanya said Illyssa looked fine when she came to pick her up..."

Bella inhaled sharply and looked down at her fist that had clenched automatically upon hearing Tanya's name. She bit her lip while she thought about how to word what she had to say. She then looked up into his eyes and was thrown by how green they were, he had stepped closer to her now. She quickly took another step back and he frowned.

"Mr. Cullen, I need to tell you about how Illyssa has been acting this week. It's important. And I need to ask something of you."

He raised an eyebrow questioningly and Bella nervously played with her hands.

"I need you to stay calm and try not to interrupt me while I say this."

Edward nodded curiously.

"Fair enough." He then moved to sit down on one of the children's desks and waited for her to speak.

Bella sighed. _Just say it all exactly as it is._

"Over the last few days, I noticed that Illyssa hasn't really been herself. Normally she's so noisy and social but this week she's been withdrawn and hasn't wanted to play with any of her friends. She also wet the bed a couple of times during nap time, which isn't so unusual for some kids her age but she normally has perfect bladder control."

Edward's frown had deepened and he nodded agreeing that this was unusual.

"I meant to ask Esme if anything had changed in her life, but I kept missing her, but then it turns out that Miss. Denali has been picking her up."

Edward nodded again, "Yeah my mum fell down the stairs and broke her right leg and left ankle in several places."

Bella's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh my God! That's awful!" _Shit, poor Esme, what she must be going through!_

"Yeah," Edward agreed as he rubbed his eyes. Bella's eyes followed the movement in his arm muscles as he did this. She then noticed the dark circles under his eyes and realised how tired he must be. _Poor thing_.

"But I still don't understand all this drama," he continued. "So Illyssa is struggling with the change of not seeing her Grandma every day. It's natural reaction, but kids are resilient. I'm sure she'll be fine, besides, it's only been a week."

Bella took in a shaky breath and nodded her head. If Tanya was an actual human being and not a demon bitch from hell, Bella could understand his reasoning. Bella bit her lip nervously while she willed herself to continue.

"But today was different. During painting time, she knocked over her paint pallet and when it spilled all over the floor she looked at me as if she was terrified that I would hurt her. She wet herself right in the middle of class, but that's not the worst of it. Sh-she – " Bella took a deep breath. "She asked me if I was going to smack her."

Edward's eyes widened in shock and his entire body became rigid.

"When she would finally let me touch her and get her changed, she told me about Tanya picking her up and not Esme. A-and I asked her if Tanya had ever smacked her and she answered that she had because she had spilt juice on the carpet."

Bella let out a shaky breath and waited for Edward to react. She expected him to yell or scream or maybe even throw something. That would be an appropriate reaction for a concerned parent.

Instead, he got up and moved towards the nap room. _What the hell is wrong with this guy?_

"M-Mr. Cullen - " she began, but he cut her off.

"I'll handle it," he snapped in a low tone not looking at her. Bella frowned. _What did that mean? That he'd simply talk to his bitch of a girlfriend and then they'd pretend it never happened?_

Bella thought of Illyssa's fearful eyes and her heart ached at the thought of Tanya still being in her life. She knew she had to say something to knock some sense into this guy.

"Mr. Cullen," she began firmly. "You do understand that in cases of abuse or neglect, I _am_ obligated to report - "

"What the fuck?" he spun around to face her. He looked absolutely furious. Bella took a few steps back in fear, but he crossed the distance between them in a few, quick strides until he was right in front of her to the point that their noses were almost touching. In that moment as he loomed over her, he reminded her of her ex-boyfriend James. Her whole body became alert, waiting for the violence to come.

"Listen to me, you stupid, fat, whore! - ".

Bella visibly flinched and she breathed in sharply.

"You are not taking my daughter away from me, EVER! Do you understand me?" She nodded quickly willing herself not to cry. He then spun around violently to collect Illyssa.

Bella stood frozen in the same spot breathing quickly. Her cheeks flushed a deep red.

When Edward emerged from the nap room with Illyssa fast asleep in his arms, he ignored Bella and made his way straight to the exit. One her got to the door he picked up his daughters bag and jacket which Bella had placed there earlier in the evening for his convenience. Once he opened the door and stepped through the threshold, he stopped with his back still facing her.

"You won't be seeing Illyssa again Miss. Swan," he stated, raw anger filling his tone. "Consider her enrolment withdrawn." And with those words, he slammed the door shut.

Bella stood unmoving her eyes filling up with tears but she did not let them fall just yet. She simply stood and stared at the floor as if in a trance. She hadn't felt anything like that since James had been in her life. As she heard Edward slam the car door once he had buckled Illyssa in and then drive off, she let herself break down. She slid slowly to the floor and let the tears flow.

**Please review. Any kind of comments would be great, I would love to know what you think of the actual story or the writing style. Let me know. I swear the next update will not take this long AND THAT EDWARD IS NOT AS BAD AS HE SEEMS, in fact, he's quite the sweetie - you'll just have to wait and see though.**


	3. Revenge and Realisations

**Thank you so much for reviewing JJ1234, Amanda413, yoursforalleternity, and zoe! I hope you all like this chapter. Please tell me what you think of the story so far... **

Edward had never been more furious in his entire life. As he drove away he felt tears of rage form in his eyes as he thought about his little girl being scared because of him. It was all his fault. He had asked Tanya to take care of her, he had brought this into her life. Instead of driving home he drove straight to his parent's house. He parked in the drive way, got out and then violently kicked the front tire of his car. _Stupid fucking bitch! How dare she hurt my daughter!_

He took a few deep breaths and then opened the back door of his car. He looked at the innocent little angel in front of him. He stood there for a while. Was that teacher bitch right? Was this neglect? Was he a bad father? He had noticed that Illyssa had been quiet these last few days, but he had simply assumed it was because her grandmother wasn't there.

Once he had unbuckled her, he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and gently pulled her out. She stirred and simply snuggled into her father's chest, finding herself a comfortable pillow in his shoulder. Edward smiled and hugged her tightly as he walked to the front door. He wished they could stay like this and that he could protect her forever.

He rang the bell because he was too tired to fumble around for the key. His mother's nurse, Kate answered the door.

"Edward? Hey, what are you doing here so late?"

"Hey Kate," he answered as he walked through the door and into the hallway.

"How's my mom?"

"She's resting in bed." Kate looked slightly nervous. "To be honest, I'm not sure if she wants you to see her like this. I know you saw her at the hospital, but here in her own home where she can't really do anything useful, it's different."

Edward nodded sadly as they walked into the family room where his father, Carlisle was reading a book.

"It's ok Kate, I'm actually after my father." He nodded his head in Carlisle's direction who had now stood up to greet his son.

"Oh, ok well I'll leave you two to it," smiled Kate as she left.

"Son you look awful!" his father began as he took in his sons dishevelled appearance. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"This day is fucking screwed up," Edward sighed as he sat down, Illyssa still clinging to him, while fast asleep. Carlisle watched his son sadly in understanding.

"You lost a patient today." It wasn't a question.

Edward took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Yes. She was a mother of three."

"Oh son I'm sorry. It's been a long time since that has happened hasn't it?"

"Yeah, but that's not why I'm here," he brushed it off. "I need you take care of Illyssa for about an hour while I take care of something." Carlisle frowned curiously.

"What?"

"Breaking up with my bitch of a girlfriend," stated Edward. His father looked surprised but then smiled and quickly agreed to take his granddaughter.

"Don't seem too upset for me Dad," Edward said sarcastically as he passed Illyssa gently over to her grandfather. Carlisle simply smiled and hugged the little one close to him. He and Esme had never been quiet about the fact that they found Tanya to be fake and that it was about time he found a serious girlfriend. Well Carlisle had been quiet about it, Esme had been the one to do all the talking but it didn't mean that he didn't agree with her.

"Well son, you've given me a reason to force your mother to spend a bit of time with me. I'm sure she would be very interested in hearing about this."

Edward frowned.

"She doesn't want you to be around her?"

Carlisle sighed.

"It's nothing to worry about, she's feeling helpless at the moment and she needs a little space."

Edward's frown deepened.

"She's going to be fine," said Carlisle reassuringly.

Edward's frown didn't disappear, but he let it go.

"I'll be back in an hour," he stated and left to go to Tanya's house. As he hopped into his car, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and messaged Tanya. _I'll be at your place in 20 minutes._ She got back to him merely seconds later. _I'll be waiting on the bed baby, wearing red lace. _

Edward grit his teeth in anger and threw his phone on the passenger's seat.

And sure enough when he got to her apartment, Edward found Tanya exactly the way she said she'd be. To any other man she would have looked deliciously tempting, but he barely registered her appearance. He stopped near the edge of the bed and stared at her willing himself to control his anger.

"What are you doing baby? Don't you like it?" she asked gesturing to her red lacy bra. She purposely ran her hand over her breast and looked at him with her best bedroom eyes. Edward merely scoffed.

"I'm only going to ask you this once Tanya," he began calmly. "Did you smack my daughter?"

Tanya's eyes widened in shock.

"I-I..." she stuttered.

"It's a simple question," Edward snarled. "Yes or no?"

"Sh-she broke my vase," Tanya tried to explain. Edward froze and he didn't speak for a while.

"More than once?" he whispered dangerously.

"What?"

"Her teacher said you smacked her because she split juice on the carpet," he seethed breathing harder than usual.

"Th-that was yesterday," Tanya answered, "I told her that she couldn't have any until after dinner but she tried to pour herself a glass anyway when I wasn't looking. I was just trying to provide her with a bit of discipline so that she would learn her lesson and listen next time." Tanya was speaking as though she thought her actions where reasonable.

"Learn her lesson?" he repeated angrily. "Learn her lesson? She's only three fucking years old!" he roared. Tanya took a step back in fear and instead of slapping her like he really wanted to, he sharply turned and exited her bedroom and went to the kitchen. Tanya followed him curiously even though she was scared of what he would do. She saw that as he reached the fridge, he yanked the door open and hastily pulled out a bottle of juice, a carton of milk and a carton of eggs. Even though it was obvious what he was going to do, she still gasped in shock when he moved to the living room and began smashing the eggs and pouring the milk and juice all over her living room floor.

"Her fucking teacher, was saying shit about reporting me for abuse and neglect," he roared as he finished pouring the contents of the milk carton and threw it on the floor.

"Is this fucking worth it Tanya?" he gestured to the carpet as he glared daggers at her, "You don't want to pay a fucking carpet cleaning bill and as a consequence I lose my child?"

Tanya didn't know how to respond. Edward clenched his fist as he felt the waves of rage wash over him. She wasn't even remorseful.

"You hit my daughter!" he said in a low tone and then stepped forward to kick the vase of the coffee table. "She's been living in fear for the last week, wetting herself all the time, not playing with her friends and I might lose her."

"Edward I-" she began, but he cut her off.

"When we're at work don't speak to me unless it's work related, don't even look at me and don't you ever, EVER go near my daughter!" He roared the last part and was out the door faster than a speeding bullet. He didn't care to witness Tanya's reaction.

...

The next day Edward was happily surprised to receive a phone call from his mother to come over for lunch. _At least she's acting like her normal self_. Edward new exactly what this invitation meant, she was going to grill him all about Tanya and what happened to make him see reason.

And sure enough, a few hours later he was in deep conversation with his mom, dad and older brother Emmet who had also received an invitation for lunch, about the events of the day before. He decided that it would be best to leave out the part where he had verbally abused and yelled at the kindergarten teacher, however this secret came out anyway when he informed them that he wanted to send Illyssa to a different child care centre.

"What? Edward no! - " his mother began to protest.

"Mom, the teacher threatened to report me, I don't want Illyssa anywhere near her. I won't lose her!"

"Edward, if anything, you should be thanking her," came Carlisle's calm voice, "she was the one who saw what was happening to Illyssa and was brave enough to do something about it."

Edward took a slow sip of his light beer while he thought about what his father had just said. He hadn't thought about it like that. He turned to watch his daughter who was sitting at a small plastic table in the corner of the room, happily drawing a picture. It was because of her teacher that his little girl was safe and happy right now.

He sighed and closed his eyes.

"I yelled at her," he admitted quietly.

"At Illyssa?" asked Emmet, confused.

"No, her kindergarten teacher," he almost whispered. It was dawning on him how badly he had behaved. His fear of losing Illyssa had blocked him from seeing how wrong he had been. Miss Swan had done the right thing by him and his daughter and he had acted like a complete bastard.

"What did you say to her?" asked Esme slightly shocked, Edward had never really had any aggressive tendencies. That was more likely to be Emmet's style.

"I-I was so worried after she said that she might report me, the thought of losing Illyssa made me react badly and I-I called her a fat whore," Edward said in a rush as he looked down and fiddled with the sticker on his beer bottle.

Esme gasped and Emmet shoke his head but his father's reaction was the one that surprised him.

"What?" he growled. Edward's head snapped up at Carlisle's tone and his eye's met his father's glaring ones. He blinked in surprise.

"I didn't raise you to be like this boy," Carlisle said in a dangerously low tone. There was suddenly an intense air about the room. Esme and Emmet didn't dare say anything. Carlisle was almost never mad unless there was a good reason.

"You will go to her on Monday and apologise Edward, do you hear me?" Carlise practically snarled. "Poor innocent girl – "

"Dad you haven't even met her," began Edward. He was surprised by his father's reaction. He had expected him to be disappointed, but why on earth would he act so...protectively, over a stranger?

Carlisle was frowning angrily, however his expression was quickly replaced with an unreadable one. Bella had actually been his patient a few years ago. This was around the time she and James had been together. When they had met at the kinder a few months ago for 'grandparent's week', Carlisle had been kind enough to pretend that they were meeting for the first time. He never betrayed a patient's confidentiality and even though he desperately wanted to explain to his son that he had yelled at an abuse victim, he simply replied with,

"Your mother and I attended grandparent's week a while ago at the kinder remember son? She seemed to be such a sweet, gentle woman, have you even thought about how hurt she would have been by your slurs?"

Edward cringed as he remembered the look on Miss Swan's face. She had been shocked and hurt. And at one point she had looked scared of him. That's what he had wanted at the time, to scare her off so she wouldn't report anything, but now he could see what an utter jerk he had been.

"I'll apologise on Monday," he said quickly. Then thought aloud to himself, "How should I do it?"

"Oh come on Edward," laughed Emmet. "Just bring her flowers and do all that charming guy crap and she'll be eating out of the palm of your hand in no time."

Carlisle was frowning and Esme was looking at him with a puzzled expression. Illyssa was happily colouring in the corner unaware of the seriousness of their conversation.

"Yeah I guess I could do that," agreed Edward.

"I think it's time for lunch," declared Esme. "Carlisle honey can you help me into my wheelchair?"

His head snapped in her direction, he was surprised. She had previously stated that he was in no way allowed to help her. That's why they had hired the nurse, Kate to help her. Esme was trying to distract her husband in the hope that when he finally got her to the dining table he would allow her to change the subject to a more pleasant conversation. It worked. And although Carlisle had calmed down and spoke pleasantly to his son, Edward would not let himself feel any relief. His mind was being haunted by the fear he had seen flash in Miss Swan's deep, brown eyes the night before. He hoped that come Monday morning, he could find a way to erase the damage that his behaviour had caused.

**Please let me know what you think of the story so far! There will definitely be Bella and Edward interaction in the next chapter! Woo Hoo!**


	4. Second Meeting

**Hey Guys, wow lots of reviews! Thank you so much belleanne, immortalwizardpirateelf-fan, Frying Pan of DOOM, 4ever, geekyfaerie, majolevi, lilmstran, A is for Angel, Charmlight, weaknessisour-strength, Edwards squeaky chew toy, ignore common sense and Amanda413.**

**And thank you for reviewing the second chapter, sorry I missed you. **

**Immortalwizardpirateelf-fan, to answer your question, Edward felt that it was fault that he brought Tanya into Illyssa's life and that he could be reported for neglect since he didn't notice what was going on.**

**Frying Pan of DOOM wow what a review! Thank you for being so interested in my story. I do have an idea about how I want Bella to react in my mind, if at any time you don't think it seems to fit please review and tell me. To be honest I just based the kinder experience on my own – with the terminology I mean. I was there when I was three and four for whole days. We always referred to it as kinder and my parents would call the carers my "kindergarten teachers". But it's possible that I'm not using the correct terms at all. I'm not really sure.**

**Ignore common sense, yes James was definitely abusive, it is possible that I will include him in a later chapter at some point but I'm not sure. **

**So on with the story...**

Bella was not so fortunate as Edward was, to have her family around to talk to in times like these. Her Saturday afternoon was quite different. She had let herself sleep in until noon since it had been difficult for her to fall asleep. As she woke she surveyed her bedroom floor which was littered with tissues on one side. She had cried uncontrollably last night to the point where she no longer cared to aim for the rubbish bin after she continuously blew her nose with every fresh set of tears. Sadly the feelings she had then had not left by the morning. Shakespeare was wrong when he had stated that sleep was 'the balm of hurt minds', she didn't feel any better, all she felt was dehydrated.

Stumbling out of bed, she picked up all the tissues put them in her bin, washed her hands and went to the kitchen to pour herself a tall glass of water. She didn't feel like eating but she forced herself to put two slices of bread in the toaster. She had never felt so alone. She needed to talk to someone about the events of last night, but she didn't want to interrupt Angela who was probably with Ben. After buttering her toast she eventually decided upon emailing the only person she ever felt truly comfortable talking about anything with, her closet friend, Brandon. They had met on the first day of boarding school and had been best friends ever since.

_Hey Brandon, _

_I miss you so much and I wish that you were here. I had the worst night last night and you're not here to make me laugh at myself or you know, buy a ridiculously expensive pair of shoes._

_Yesterday I found out that one of my kids was being smacked by her dad's girlfriend and when I told the father he got really mad. Maybe it was my fault, he only started yelling when I spoke of reporting the abuse. It's obvious that he really cares about his daughter though because when he thought that there was a chance of losing her he went nuts. Still I don't understand, it's a bit screwed up, he didn't say anything about being pissed at his girlfriend. I wonder what he's going to do about her. It would be so damaging for his daughter if he kept seeing that bitch!_

_And what do I do? He said that he's going to withdraw his daughter from the kinder. Do I involve the authorities? Or am I being dramatic? I just want to make sure that she's safe!_

_Please tell me what you think, I feel so lost. I'm sorry that this email is so depressing. Tell me how you and Jazz are, I could use some good news right now._

_I love you,_

_Trip. _

_XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX _

Bella hadn't expected a reply until the next day but it came within the hour and not by email. When the phone rang she was surprised to hear her best friend's voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey Trip!" came the enthusiastic voice of her oldest friend.

"Brandon? What are you doing? This is a long distance call! You do know that you're in Paris right?"

"Oh and here I thought you'd be happy to hear from me!"

Bella smiled. "I am! She then sighed, "Brandon, you have no idea!"

"Then talk to me hun, sounds like you've had a crappy couple of days."

Bella told her about everything that happened the night before while Brandon listened quietly and intently. She had gasped at the part where the jerk had called her a 'fat whore', but she also, very wisely concluded that his reaction must have been from the fear of losing his daughter and the shame of being the one to let such abuse enter her life.

"Don't call the police or anyone about this just yet, just wait and see if he actually withdraws her from kinder," Brandon had advised. "My bet is that things will calm down and it won't be as bad as it seems. His anger shows how much he loves his daughter. I'm sure he'll show his girlfriend the door, just wait and see what happens, if he doesn't, then get the authorities involved."

Bella had protested, feeling slightly upset at her friends' calm, rational view. She wanted Brandon to encourage her to take this guy down. However, this is why she had contacted her, she had always had an almost freakish gift for seeing things for what they really were. It was like that when they had first met at school. Within minutes of knowing each other Brandon had exclaimed that she could tell that they would be best friends forever and she hadn't been wrong so far.

Bella found that she felt a lot better after that and she got through the weekend without anymore tears. On Sunday night, however she felt a little nervous and found herself fretting over the outfit she would wear the next day. She finally settled on her favourite black slinky skirt that rested just above her knees, her white eyelet blouse that allowed a little more cleavage to show than usual and her black leather boots that had quite a high heel. She normally never wore any type of heel since her ability to balance while walking across a flat surface would pose many sorts of problems, that and her feet would be killing her by the end of the day. However she felt that adding a little height might make her feel a little more in control if a certain someone showed up. She also put a nice set of spare clothes to take to work in case she would need to change them again.

She woke up several times that night feeling anxious, however when she woke on Monday morning she was determined to have this day be one where she was in control.

"Jessica," she began, as she walked through reception. "Mr. Cullen spoke to me last week about possibly withdrawing his daughter Illssya from here. If he comes in today to do so, please call me, I would like to speak with him first." Bella made for the exit but Jessica stopped her.

"Bella he's actually here right now, he's here to speak to you. I let him wait in your office, I hope that's ok. He's sooooooooooo hot isn't he?" Jessica looked her up and down. "Is that why you're all dressed up today? Bella you have your hair down and you're even wearing eyeliner!"

Bella froze. _He's here already?_ She was beginning to have doubts about what Brandon had said. What if he really did take Illyssa away from here? Instead of being afraid of him she felt angry. She ignored Jessica completely and marched in the direction of her and Angela's office.

As she got there she slowed down and stopped in the open doorway. Edward had his back to her. His head was tilted to the side because he was looking at a picture that one of her past kids had drawn her. It was clear that he was trying to figure out what the swirl of colours were.

He was wearing a grey suit and Bella could tell from just the back of him that he looked good in it. She noticed that on the desk she and Angela shared, was a bunch of yellow roses. She was shocked because she realised in that instant hat he was here to apologise. She had seen it a million times before. Every time James had gotten angry and taken it out on her, he apologised with flowers. His apologies had been theatrical, they involved flowers, chocolates, jewellery, special nights out – all to ease his guilt and all meaning nothing to her. She crossed her arms confidently and leant against the doorframe.

"They're fairies," she stated loudly. Dr. Cullen spun around surprised, he looked confused.

Bella moved further into the room and gestured to the picture.

"The picture you're looking at, it's a picture of a group of fairies having a party, one of my kids from a few years ago drew it specifically for me." Although her conversation was about something light, her dislike of him was not easily missed.

Edward swallowed awkwardly as he looked Bella up and down. She hadn't looked like this the last time he had seen her. His eyes lingered on her glossy lips for longer than he cared to admit. Licking his own he turned around to distract himself by looking at the drawing again.

"How can you tell?" he asked continuing with this small talk while he tried to gather his thoughts.

"Because she told me," Bella answered and shrugged her shouldrs as if he were stupid and it were the most logical answer in the world. She walked over to sit at her desk and as she did Edward's eyes followed her cleavage as it slightly bounced up and down with each step.

"I'm good at listening to my kids when others are too busy to pay attention," Bella continued alluding to the situation with Illyssa.

This pulled Edward out of his trance and his eyes snapped to hers. But he didn't reply with a defensive retort like she expected.

"Yes," he agreed quietly as he put his hands in his pockets. "You are."

They stared at each other for a while, neither knowing what to say. After a few moments Edward sighed and pulled a chair from across the room to sit in front of her at the desk.

"Look, Miss Swan," he began as he sat down. "The things I said to you on Friday, I-I'm ashamed to admit I even said them - "

Bella sighed as if she was bored and then cut him off mid speech. She had heard her fair share of apologies for one life time and wasn't interested.

"Are you withdrawing Illyssa from the program?" she asked abruptly in her school teacher voice.

Edward blinked in surprise but he answered her.

"No, she loves it here. She loves you." He said the last part softly and then flashed her his charming crooked smile that would have melted any other woman easily, but Bella's strict expression didn't change.

"Good," she answered simply.

This wasn't going at all how Edward had hoped. His last resort was to give her the flowers even though she had obviously already seen them and hadn't seemed moved by the gesture.

"These are for you, to thank you for what you did for my daughter. Seriously I don't think you know how much I appreciate what you did. And I need to apologise, my behaviour was unthinkable - "

Bella opened her mouth to say something to cut him off but he spoke louder to make sure she wouldn't.

"I am truly sorry Ms. Swan and I am so grateful that you were brave enough to tell me. The thought of my daughter being hurt by anyone or anything makes me sick."

"Me too," Bella said in a small voice as she took the flowers from him. She could tell that he genuinely meant what he had said by the expression on his face. As she felt her dislike for him begin to crumble she reminded herself that James had meant every one of his apologies. She thanked him politely for the flowers and placed them in a vase on her desk even though she hated them. She desperately wanted to ask what he had done about his hell bitch girlfriend. But instead of wording it that way she simply asked him if Tanya was going to be picking Illyssa up again this week.

This broke his 'I'm really a sweet guy inside, please forgive me' face immediately.

"You really think I'm an asshole don't you?" he growled angrily and stood up. Bella stood up too. "I ended things with her that night, what kind of father do you think I am?"

"I barely know you," Bella answered forcefully.

He glared at her for a moment, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Right, and with your first impression of me being what it was, how could you not think of me as a complete bastard?"

Bella looked down as she felt a fresh wave of fear and humiliation wash over her. She remembered the way he had towered over her the other night. She remembered how scared and helpless she had felt. She hated herself for not having defended herself. She should have fought back and told him he was a prick that night, maybe she should have even punched him. She hadn't taken self defense classes for the last year for nothing.

But he hadn't been violent towards, she reminded herself of that.

Edward took a few steps forward and reached across to touch Bella's arm. She flinched but didn't pull away. He frowned at her reaction and noticed also that she wouldn't meet his gaze. What he didn't know was that she was concentrating on not crying. He sighed and leaned slightly over the desk and whispered gently to her.

"I'm truly sorry for the things I said and the way I treated you Ms. Swan. I hope that we can start over."

He pulled away and straightened up. Bella still refused to look at him.

"I have to go to work but, I'll be back to pick Lyss up around 5, so I'll see you then."

Once he left the room, Bella let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

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	5. Yellow Roses

**A big thank you to ignore common sense, Kirsty, A is for Angel, Jen, Caroleg, lilmstran, majolevi, zoe, JJ1234, weaknessisour-strength, Robsten345.**

**Shaynalane you can see that I tried to thank you in the last chapter but for some reason when I loaded to document your name got deleted, so this time i'm not using the full stop, I hope it works. Thank you for reviewing chapter 2.**

**Robsten thanks for the PM I hope you like this chapter!**

**Everyone enjoy there's lots of Bella and Edward interaction woo hoo! **

Bella kept her eyes on Illyssa throughout the day. She was happy to see her playing with her friends again. At least she didn't have to worry about the little angel anymore. However there was still a feeling of panic there, she couldn't identify what it was. When four o'clock came around she realised that it was because she didn't want to see _him_ again.

He had tried to be perfectly sweet that morning but he reminded her so much of James. It had been a rollercoaster of violence then kindness, violence then kindness and she didn't want to feel like she was being pulled in so many emotional directions ever again. Not to mention that she felt like a disgusting blob in front of him. When he looked at her she was so aware of her stomach and her thighs and that he was tall and muscular and had the body of a Greek god.

Yes she'd admit that he looked gorgeous. She'd admit that he obviously loved his daughter. But in all other respects he was clearly an arrogant jerk. Nothing like his father.

After telling Angela the whole story of what happened on Friday night and then that morning, she had agreed that Bella should stay in the office around five o'clock and that she would handle the parents who came to pick up their children then, alone.

This plan didn't work. When Edward arrived he was determined to talk to Bella again. He had thought about her all day, his mind had kept wandering back to her full lips and her creamy skin that he had longed to touch. When he had turned around to see her that morning, he barely recognised her. He turned back around, thankful that their conversation about the picture on the wall had allowed him to do so to hide his body's obvious reaction to her beauty.

But that was not all he thought of. Her tone, body language and sharp words had clearly shown her hatred and fear she felt around him. He didn't know why he cared so much but he desperately wanted to change her perception of him.

Ten minutes after five Bella heard a knock at the office door, she assumed it was Angela there to tell her that she could come out because Dr. Cullen had gone. Her eyes went wide when she was greeted by the very person she was trying to avoid. She quickly composed herself.

"Can I help you?" she asked making it clear that he was interrupting her.

Edward chuckled at her feistiness.

"Can I come in Ms. Swan? I was hoping we could talk, I won't be long."

Bella opened the door wider to let him in and turned around.

"I suppose I could work and talk at the same time," she answered with her back to him as she walked back to her desk. She tried to think of something she could do to make herself look busy. She decided to print out a notice she had written for all the parents about a dress up day they were going to have in a month.

She sat at her desk her eyes focusing on the computer screen but her other senses where fully aware of him. She heard him move closer into the room but then stop abruptly. She waited for him to say something as she clicked away on the mouse trying to find the right folder on the desktop that contained the notice. He didn't say anything for a long moment and curiosity got the better of her. She turned to look at him. He wasn't looking at her, he was staring at the waste basket in the corner of the room with a frown upon his face. There sticking out of the basket were the yellow roses he had given to her that morning. She honestly hadn't expected him to see that but now that he had, she wondered what his reaction would be.

He turned to her and gestured to the bin. "So you don't like flowers huh?" he said in a friendly tone. He smirked cockily when he saw Bella's cheeks turn a light shade of pink. She was embarrassed. Even though she disliked him, she knew that she came off as rude in this situation.

"Not when they come with apologies no," she answered truthfully and then added, "I'm sorry Mr. Cullen you weren't meant to see that."

He didn't seem to care. "Please, call me Edward," he said looking directly into her eyes. She hated herself for looking back because once she did she couldn't seem to tear them away from his beautiful green ones. After a long pause she replied.

"I'd rather not _Mr. Cullen_."

She wanted to gain back the control she felt herself to have lost in his presence.

He chuckled and turned to gaze back in the direction of the discarded flowers.

"So what is it about them that offends you? Do you not like roses? Do you not like the colour yellow? Or is it the more obvious answer? Do you not like the person who gave them to you?" He looked at her expectantly with a teasing glint in his eyes.

"Why do my motives even matter to you Mr. Cullen?" Bella asked sharply.

He chuckled. "I just don't want to make the same mistake next time, maybe you prefer chocolates? Or jewellery?"

Bella's temper flared at this as she remembered how James would apologise with those very things.

"Next time?" she snapped and stood up her hand leaning on the desk in front of her. She moved around the desk folded her arms and leant her back against the front of it. "So you plan on making your disgust of my appearance clear again while also implying that I'm a slut?"

Bella's cheeks where red with anger. A part of her knew that she was being dramatic but she didn't care, this was the release that she needed. She wanted to let out the anger that had been brewing inside her since her relationship with James, an anger that had reignited when Edward had verbally abused her.

Edward's teasing smile disappeared immediately. "No – I, of course not!" His breathing became harder.

"Oh so you're just going to threaten to withdraw Illyssa from here again?" As she took a deep breath she knew she was being childish. He had come in here to talk to her and even when he saw that she had thrown his flowers out he hadn't acted like he was insulted. He had only teased her about it. She didn't like him, he was a jerk, but she was in her workplace and she should be acting like a professional.

"No, as I said this morning she loves it here!" He stated firmly. His eyes bore into hers waiting for her next attack.

Bella nodded looking down, she had to get a grip. Edward sighed.

"Look, Ms Swan – " Edward began with a soft tone.

"Jealousy or decrease of love," Bella interrupted in a small voice.

"I – what?" he asked, confused.

"Jealousy or decrease of love," she repeated. "That's what yellow roses mean."

"Oh," he said not really knowing how to respond, but after a while he smiled. She had calmed down. "Do they have a flower that means 'I'm sorry for being a complete dickhead?'"

Bella smiled slightly but her eyes were still cast down. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. He hadn't walked out just then as she had exploded irrationally.

"I hate it when apologies come with gifts," she explained softly in a voice that indicated she was thinking about a memory of hers. She looked up at him. "It means that the person isn't willing to acknowledge what they've done because they are trying to lessen their guilt. If a person is truly sorry they would bare that guilt and wear it as their own."

Edward stood frozen, mesmerised by the passionate woman before him. Her eyes shined so brightly as she spoke, never doubting her words. His eyes noticed that a lock of her hair had fallen across her cheek and he watched as her hand automatically moved up to tuck it behind her ear. He wished that he was brave enough to step forward and do that for her, though he knew that such an action wouldn't be received well.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked quietly while looking him firmly in the eye. Edward blinked in surprised.

"You can always ask," Edward answered, curious as to what she would ask him.

Before she began she cleared her voice nervously.

"Well, uh, obviously, I've read Illyssa's file. It says that you adopted her when she was 6 months old and well, honestly..." Bella hesitated before continuing. "I was wondering why?"

"Because you don't think I'm a good father," Edward stated frowning.

"No!" Bella jumped in quickly to contradict him. "I – it's just, you're a young doctor. To move up in your world you have to put in the hours...like taking regular 24 hour shifts don't you?"

Edward nodded.

"I'm guessing you had to take off a lot of time in Illyssa's first few years, especially since you're a single parent. It just doesn't really make any sense that you would sacrifice your career like that."

"I know," agreed Edward. "That's exactly what my parent's said when I told them I was adopting her."

"So then why - "

But Edward cut her off this time.

"Ms. Swan, I met Illyssa's birth parent's in the middle of a car crash. Well no that's not true, her father was dead by the time I got there."

Bella's eyes were wide but she remained silent.

"Back in Chicago, I had passed out on the couch in front of the TV after an extremely long shift when I heard the crash. It was a few houses down from me and when I got there the father was dead. I was able to pull Illyssa out easily - she was miraculously unharmed. I was able to get her mother out too and she was conscious. But she was losing a lot of blood and I couldn't stop it. As she lay dying she begged me to make sure that her baby would be safe."

Bella nodded letting out a breath she had been holding. What an amazing man. She couldn't deny that his willingness to drop his career for a baby he didn't know was angelical. She didn't understand him. She paused before she spoke again. "But that didn't mean that you had to adopt her. Social services could have taken her. Why take on that responsibility?"

Edward didn't look up, instead he stepped forward and ran his index finger along a photo frame on the desk which had a picture of Bella and Angela in it from their college days. Bella stepped sideways so as not to be so close to him. His cologne was intoxicating.

"Because," he sighed. "I moved from foster home to foster home every year for four years since I was three years old and I wanted to spare her that pain."

Bella had no idea how to react. She simply stared at him.

A few moments passed by in silence until Edward suddenly looked up at her and flashed her a breathing takingly beautiful smile.

"I should take Illyssa home," he said calmly. "I'll see you tomorrow Ms. Swan."

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